Thank you for your update on University of Minnesota football coach Jerry Kill (“I’m not a freak,” Aug. 11). I’ve had epilepsy for a long time and have gone through many of the same stages as the coach — denial, repeated seizures, etc. I was glad to see that the coach realizes that the Mayo Clinic is an answer to some problems, but you can’t beat some local clinics for epilepsy treatment.

ETHEL MARX, Stanchfield, Minn.

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As an epileptic for more than 40 years, I’m deeply sorry that Kill feels he has to make his epilepsy a condition to be vanquished; that it somehow makes him weak, so he has to be tough. Most people are surprised to learn that I’m epileptic. That’s good. It puts epilepsy where it belongs, as just another aspect of a person and certainly not a defining one.

Shame on the Star Tribune for blowing an opportunity to demonstrate how the coach’s epilepsy is simply part of a regular life. All of the paper’s protestations and sideline articles that Kill is being “bold” or “brave” to be so open about his condition are completely undercut by the “I’m not a freak” headline used to introduce the issue.

PRISCILLA WYETH, St. Paul

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RIVER FISHING

No need to go Up North with Mississippi nearby

Thanks to Dennis Anderson for the interesting article on fishing the Mississippi River in Minneapolis with smallmouth-bass guide Kip Veith (“Flying through downtown, casting for smallmouth bass,” Aug. 11). I fish that stretch of river often, and I am always surprised at how few anglers I see there. Smallmouth bass are an indicator fish, meaning they can live only in clean water. In fact, I’ve never caught a smallie below where the Minnesota River comes in. So while most of Minnesota’s 1 million anglers make the trek north, I will continue to fish the clean waters of the Mississippi River within 20 minutes of my front door.

Erdrich’s most egregious statement is that the line won’t serve the people of Minneapolis. Obviously, it will serve downtown Minneapolis. But it also creates a critical opportunity link for residents of north Minneapolis to jobs in the southwest suburbs. There’s currently no reasonable transit service for the residents of the Near North neighborhood and beyond to jobs in the Southwest Corridor. This commuter line is a game-changer for the neighborhoods in our city with the worst levels of unemployment.

DAVID GREENE, Minneapolis

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Platt’s analysis of the bike trail dilemma was right on. Are the short-term and myopic interests of a wealthy constituency (Kenwood/Lake of the Isles) going to dominate discussion and the outcome of an issue for the entire metropolitan community? I hope not.

DOUG ELLINGSON, Richfield

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Let’s allow the people of the city to vote on the matter. Who could possibly be afraid of the outcome?

HARRIET BARLOW, Minneapolis

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GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE

No one is like everyone — even in Minnesota

Columnist Lori Sturdevant reported that state Rep. Kurt Zellers, a GOP candidate for governor, told a Farmfest audience: “I’m an Every Minnesotan” (“Class identity is featured in 2014 races,” Aug. 11). I’m still trying to figure out what that means, but it seems to indicate that Zellers lives the life of every Minnesotan, and that everyone in Minnesota might vote for someone just like themselves.

But on Minneapolis’ North Side, in the Phillips neighborhood, at Cedar Square West, and even over on St. Paul’s East Side and across smaller urban and rural areas of the state, there are people who know they are definitely not like every Minnesotan. In fact, there may be only one “Every Minnesotan.” Zellers will probably get his vote.

STEVE WATSON, Minneapolis

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WILF BROTHERS

Get tougher on Vikings in stadium negotiations

In the recently publicized legal proceeding between the Wilfs and their business partners in a New Jersey real-estate development, the judge said the Minnesota Vikings owners committed fraud, breach of contract and more (“Wilfs are on notice: Keep state deal clean,” Aug. 13).

Comments by Gov. Mark Dayton have implied that the Vikings got too good a deal in their lease agreement for the new stadium regarding their plan to sell personal seat licenses for preferred seating locations.

If this is the case, advise those negotiating on behalf of the state in the final agreement to “renege” on that portion of the proposed agreement. Even without that source of revenue, the agreement is still so favorable to the Vikings that they will accept the stadium deal.

NEIL NAFTALIN, Minneapolis

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WASHBURN PRINCIPAL

More answers needed from superintendent

Minneapolis Schools Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson and company owe the Washburn High School community an apology for the rash decision to hire Patrick Exner as principal (“Johnson says she didn’t know about missed reference check,” Aug. 15). Aside from the fact that Exner is accused of lying on his résumé and about enrollment as well as cheating on student test scores, does someone who ran a tiny charter school really qualify to run a large, urban high school? Common sense says no.

KARIN WARD, Minneapolis

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UNPRODUCTIVE CONGRESS

Term limits just may be the only real solution

It seems to me that if the U.S. House and Senate were limited to one term, members would spend more time working on improving our country and less time on gaining funds for re-election from special-interest groups. It’s time to change.